Interconnections between electrical connectors, such as the interconnection between two cables or a cable and a piece of electronic equipment, may be subject to degradation from environmental factors such as moisture, vibration and repeated expansion and contraction from daily temperature changes. Outer sealing enclosures that surround or enclose an electrical interconnection have been used to protect such interconnections. Enclosures often apply rigid clamshell configurations that, once closed, may be difficult to open, especially when installed in exposed or remote locations, such as atop radio towers; gaskets or gel seals may be applied at the enclosure ends and/or along a sealing perimeter of the shell.
Elastomeric sealing covers for protecting electrical interconnections are also known. Elastic sealing covers can be advantageous because they may be more easily installed over the typically uneven contours of an electrical interconnection. Exemplary configurations are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,429,373 to Scrimpshire and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/646,952, filed Oct. 8, 2012; U.S. Ser. No. 13/938,475, filed Jul. 10, 2013; and U.S. Ser. No. 14/245,443, filed Apr. 4, 2015, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The elastomeric sealing covers discussed above typically have a neck section that seals snugly against the jacket of a cable attached to a connector that resides within the cavity of the cover. Often the neck section has a smooth inner diameter, which provides maximum contact for sealing purposes, but which makes the neck section more difficult to slide relative to the cable jacket during installation. U.S. Pat. No. 7,838,775 to Montena (also incorporated herein by reference) proposes a cover that has annular grooves on the inner surface of the neck section to facilitate installation; however, this configuration can make the neck section more susceptible to moisture ingress, particularly if the cable has a corrugated outer conductor, as the presence of the corrugations can form shallow ridges and valleys in the jacket of the cable. As such, it may be desirable to provide a sealing cover having an alternative configuration.